A Change of Plan
by xIreth Calaelenx
Summary: What if Erin had never died? Would things have ended differently? Would Ian still have wanted Wendy dead? Together can Ian, Wendy, Kevin, Perry, Julie and Erin force death to change his plan for good or will they be too distracted by the war with each other?
1. Seeing is Believing

**Title: A Change of Plan**

**Warnings: Gore (not really in this chapter)**

**Rating: M (not for sexual reasons, mainly for gore and to be safe)**

**Pairings: Erin x Ian, Kevin x Wendy (friendship)**

**Authors Note: In my opinion after watching final destination 3 (about 60 times) the main reason why Ian went psycho and tried to kill Wendy was because Erin died. So what if Erin had never died in the hardware store at all? What if it was Kevin who saved her and death skipped her? Would things have ended any differently?**

"Ok. Ok, what if, for example, the last in the line were to make the utilitarian choice. Kill themselves. Well, wow, that's pretty much gonna ruin any plan deaths put in motion. And even better, I think that's gonna save, five skipped lives."

Wendy froze, her brown eyes darkening. A million curses and insults played in her mind but her mouth was completely dry and her lips remained in a single, tight line.

"Any takers?" Ian asked, his expression hard but a small grin playing at the corner of his mouth. Kevin glared looking like he was ready to kill. Wendy could see a storm of anger brewing behind his eyes and the sight unnerved her.

Ian looked at him and then back at Wendy. The harsh nature of his glare sent icy tendrils shooting up Wendy's spine and she felt as though a million needles were pricking at her skin. Their gaze locked and for a moment Wendy felt fury rush through her. In that moment it was like she was looking directly into the eyes of the entity that was stalking them. Not Ian McKinley. An uncomfortable silence stretched…

"I didn't think so."

Wendy was distracted suddenly by the sight of sawdust blowing at her feet. Such a subtle motion stood out sharply in her mind and a cold feeling of foreboding and dread flooded her. The small gust of wind seemed unnatural… Raising the photo that she had been gripping tightly in her hand she took another look at the picture. Looking above Ian's head she could see a banner that read 'SKILL'. The banner was shaped in a series of triangle shapes pointing downwards above Ian's head and the 'S' on the banner was obscured by shadows. Looking at the picture again the first thing that Wendy noticed was the way that the banner now read 'KILL'.

Wendy slowly looked up above Ian's head and the first thing she noticed was the pile of plywood stakes above his head.

"There! Those!" Wendy shouted, backing up slightly.

As if triggered by the words the top of the ladder snapped and began to topple. The motion of the ladder shuffled the plywood pieces and they began to fall forward. Ian looked up at the sharp noise, confusion flying across his expression before being replaced by pure primal fear. Wendy reacted as fast as she could. Even though she couldn't stand Ian she knew that she had to save him. There was no way that she was going to let anyone else die. Erin covered her mouth with her hands and felt fear flood her, realising that if the stakes fell on him Ian would probably be killed.

Rugby tackling Ian to the floor Wendy was momentarily deafened by the commotion behind her as the heavy wooden blocks also fell, joining the plywood on the floor. The shelves rotated causing a noise so loud that it startled everyone in the room. Wendy's mouth filled with sawdust and she gagged slightly on the taste.

A shriek came from Erin who was stood at the other side of the room and her hands flew up to her face when a heavy block fell in front of her. Ian tried to look up in the direction of her shriek but thin plywood boards had begun to fall from the shelves above him. Wendy rolled out of the way of the falling boards, pulling Ian along with her still believing he was in danger.

Kevin, now worried for his own well- being was about to fall to the ground too in order to try and protect Wendy and Ian when he noticed something that made him stop in his tracks. The photo of Erin and Ian that Wendy had been holding had flown from her hand and was now lying abandoned in the middle of the disarray, covered in a thin layer of dust. A rusty nail that was on the floor at Kevin's feet rolled, seemingly without aid of its surroundings, until it was lying on top of the photo. The nail ended up pointing in a way that it looked as though it was spearing Erin directly through the back of her head.

Kevin spun round to look at Erin just as two stakes were flicked upwards by a board and punctured an inflated sandbag, blowing sawdust in Erin's face and effectively blinding her. Erin raised her arms in front of her face in an 'x' shape and slipped backwards towards the nail gun that Kevin had become all too aware of. Without thinking about his own safety Kevin rushed forward just in time to shove Erin, less than gracefully, out of the way of the nail gun. She fell backwards and felt the cold end of the nail gun press into her arm. At the same time as they were about to hit the ground a sequence of nails shot out of the jostled nail gun, the first of which tearing at the skin of Erin's arm but other than that not touching her.

Erin panicked as the pain hit her and she shot out her arms to catch herself. She fell on top of a board and had only two seconds to look towards Ian before Kevin fell on top of her, knocking the wind out of her. She supposed it was better than the alternative though… Kevin braced his arms on either side of her and Wendy shoved at Ian one more time as the last of the boards fell with a thudding noise.

After a few moments all motion settled. Ian looked up sharply his eyes filled with panic and swimming with tears. Erin supposed that they were probably because of the sawdust. Kevin breathed deeply, trying not to think about what would have happened had he not seen that sign. All that he could think was that they'd saved two people from death… But that didn't mean that he and Wendy had saved themselves. They still had all that ahead of them.

Erin was shaking under Kevin and he could feel something sticky under his hand where he was holding onto her arm. Blood. Luckily for Erin the nail had only grazed her even though the cut was quite deep.

"Erin!" Ian called out, breathless and panting. His voice broke and Wendy paled. She'd never heard him sound so afraid. Erin and Ian had always seemed so emotionless, sitting at the side of the cafeteria, never really associating with anyone other than themselves. It was odd to see him sounding and looking so vulnerable. From where she was lay next to him Wendy could feel the thumping of is heart against her forearm as it was beating a hundred miles per hour.

"Ian…" Erin mumbled her eyes wide and startled like a deer caught in the headlights of a quickly approaching truck.

Ian forced his body to move despite the violent shaking of his arms and legs. Shoving the wooden plates off of him he quickly rushed over to where Erin was lying, shoving the huge piles of wood out of the way but still remaining mindful of the small, seemingly harmless, stakes of plywood. Kevin rolled off of Erin, finally confident that she was safe and the danger was over.

"What happened?" Erin asked as Ian drew closer, pulling her up into his arms.

"It skipped both of you! It must have… The last death was Lewis and then it would have been Ian. But I saved Ian and it skipped him and jumped to Erin instead. But then, Kevin, you saved Erin which means…" Wendy answered, standing upright to look towards Kevin a barely concealed look of relief on her face.

"It means that we can stop this. It means we can save everyone," Kevin said, returning her smile.

Wendy turned to look towards Ian, brushing the sawdust off of her clothes. "Do you believe us now?"

Ian locked gaze with her yet again but this time the look he gave her was far more vulnerable and less guarded. Wendy could see the fear that echoed in his eyes. It was the same fear that she had felt when she realised that there was nothing she could do to help Jason. In that moment she understood him more than ever before.

"I guess seeing is believing," Ian answered simply, his arms tight around Erin's shoulders. He'd grabbed tightly onto her left arm to staunch the blood flow and his hand was quickly becoming covered in the sticky, red liquid. Erin winced and bit her lip from the pain and she was still shaking from the adrenaline from her near death experience.

"Here," Kevin said taking of his jacket and offering it to Ian.

"I've got it!" Ian snapped but snatched the jacket away from Kevin anyway.

Kevin recoiled, "Dude calm down, I just saved your girlfriends life! You should be fucking grateful!"

Wendy walked over to Kevin and put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Ian only glared at Kevin in response. There was a short and uncomfortable silence until the pigeon that Ian hadn't shot flew above Ian's head, startling him with its vigorous flapping.

Swiftly acting, Ian pulled Erin upright until she was leaning against his side and his arm was securely wrapped around her shoulders and threw Kevin's jacket on the floor. "C'mon Pip, we're out of here."

"We should stay together," Wendy protested weakly, "It'll be safer that way."

Ian turned to look at her, the anger on his face fading until he was simply giving Wendy an incredulous look. "Stay together? You are going to stay the fuck away from us! We're skipped. We're safe. You two are the ones that are going to die! Not us!"

Wendy turned towards Erin with a desperate expression on her face, hoping to receive some backup from her but Erin's expression remained blank. She was still shaking slightly and her eyes were wide as if she was completely disconnected from the argument. It didn't take a genius to realise that she was in shock.

"C'mon man, at least let me drive your truck back to your house. You shouldn't drive like this," Kevin reasoned, frowning slightly as his anger faded.

"Are you high or what? If you drive us and the truck crashes or something we'll die too! You must be joking. Do you really think I'm that dumb?" Ian stared at them his expression contorted into a snarl.

"You two are on your own." Ian whispered, pointing at them before turning away with Erin still clasped close at his side.

"Z-Zip… Where are we going?" Erin whispered. As she turned to face Ian her red hair fell in front of her face concealing the terror in her eyes.

"Shh," Ian soothed kissing the top of her head, a rare tenderness showing. "It's all fine babe, we're just going back to mine."

Wendy looked back at Kevin looking as though she was confused if she should break down or laugh in relief. She could feel her thoughts swirling around her head at one hundred miles per hour until she felt nauseated. This was vicious, this was horrific. But now… At least they knew something they could do to stop it. No one else had to die. However, the lingering fear still remained. Wendy couldn't even let the happiness of being able to save two lives fully hit her because she could still feel the dark presence of death, or whatever it was, gaining on them.

Kevin glanced back at her, pity in his eyes but a newly determined expression across his features. Clearly being able to save Erin had filled his spirit at least a little bit.

"So who's next?"

**I don't think that Erin and Ian will have much look trying to stay out of all this. What do you think? And please review! I'd love to hear what you think of the story!**


	2. Support

**Author's Note: This chapter focuses on Ian and Erin. It changes the Final Destination 3 slightly because this is supposed to be what may have happened if Erin had survived. This chapter is more gory than the other because it has details of Officer Burke and Kimberly's deaths from the second movie. If you don't know how they died there was an alternate scene in Final Destination 3 where a newspaper clipping showed that they died in a hardware store because of a malfunctioning wood chipper. Oh and thank you to PsychologyGeek81 for the kind follow and review. I appreciate it :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own final destination. **

**Warnings: Gore and language **

"You okay to get out?" Ian asked, glancing at Erin who was still completely stiff in the passenger seat. Erin continued to look forward as if she hadn't heard a single word Ian had said. Ian sighed and unlocked his side of the truck, his concern for Erin growing every second she was silent. He didn't want to take her to the hospital but if she refused to speak to him for much longer he feared he might have to. The cut on her arm wasn't bad… It just needed cleaning so it didn't get infected. However, the concern that Ian had was that if Erin was in severe shock there was nothing he could do except get her help.

Walking around the truck Ian opened up Erin's door and balanced on the door of the truck, slinging Erin's arm around his shoulders. "C'mon Pip… Help me out a little bit here."

Obediently Erin placed her other hand around his shoulder and allowed Ian to pull her legs into his arms so that he was carrying her petite form in a bridal hold.

"You're getting too big for this Pip… You're gonna pull my arm out of its socket one of these days," Ian commented, trying to draw some humour out of a day that had almost ended very badly. Erin didn't even smile. However, Ian didn't miss the way that she shuddered once in his grasp before she laid her head on Ian's chest as he carried her. Shutting and locking the door with id of one of his arms Ian struggled to get out his keys before unlocking the door to his house. As he knelt down to replace the keys in his pocket his hand lightly brushed the cut on her arm. Attempting to hide a barely concealed wince Erin turned to hide her face in his t-shirt.

"Shit. Sorry…" Ian mumbled as he grabbed his keys and unlocked the front door. The door swung open with a creak that made Erin jump slightly. Ian turned to look at her his expression serious as he gazed at her in silence. He supposed that it was good that Erin was moving but the shivering and shaking was unsettling him slightly. He frowned mumbling a few curse words and shoved the door open using his foot so that he wouldn't have to jostle Erin too much again.

Leaving the door slightly ajar, but making a mental note that he'd have to lock it, Ian carried Erin upstairs to the bathroom. Placing Erin delicately on the toilet seat Ian watched as she folded her arms around her stomach and lowered her head slightly, breathing deeply in and out.

"No way in fuck are we going back there again." Ian said dryly, no doubt in his voice.

"You- You have too," Erin croaked wincing at the sound of her own voice. "You worked hard to get that job and we need the money. If you have no money you'll have to move back in with your dad."

"No amount of money is worth that Pip… That's the second time you've almost died there. There will not be a third." Ian growled but something inside of him seemed to have loosened when Erin had begun to speak again. It meant that there was likely to be no lasting damage from this experience. Ian kissed her on top of her head again. "And as for my dad, you know that I'll sort that. There's no way in hell that I'm ever moving in with that stuck-up prick ever again. I'll get a new job if I have to."

"Okay…" Erin mumbled raising her arm to grasp at her shoulder.

"Hold on, I think I've got some Neosporin in here somewhere," Ian said searching in the draw above Erin. The noise of something scraping against the wall outside made Erin jump, but as she turned all she could see was the tree outside scraping at the window as if it wanted to get inside and join them.

"Has that tree always been that close to the house Zip," Erin asked, fear echoing in her tone. She supposed that her heightened fear was a result of her and Ian's close deaths. She figured that it was a suitable excuse for her paranoia.

Ian hadn't heard her. "Aha!" he said, hand clasping around the antiseptic spray and bandages Erin was surprised he even owned.

Erin shrugged off her denim jacket, grimacing as the shredded material pressed against the cut. Ian knelt down beside her. "This is going to feel a bit cold and it's probably gonna sting."

"No shit," Erin shot back and a smile played at the corner of Ian's lips. "Loving that spark, babe."

Erin placed her head down and grunted as the cold spray hit the cut making the skin on her back prickle. Wiping away the blood with a tissue that he'd run under the cold water tap, Ian grabbed the bandages off of the counter and began to wrap the cut.

"I'm not sure how clean those nails were. At least now it won't get infected," Ian reasoned, tightening the bandages until they were wrapped securely but allowing just the right amount of blood flow for Erin to remain comfortable.

As the adrenaline in her blood steam ran out and her thoughts stopped churning Erin felt suddenly very dizzy and tired. Ian reached out to her shoulders to steady her and placed his hand on her forehead.

"You're warm… You might be getting a fever," Ian muttered. "Do you want some food? We've got some stuff in the kitchen?"

"Can we just go to sleep?" Erin pleaded. "I'm so tired…"

Ian glanced at his watch. It was only 7 o'clock but he couldn't deny his girlfriend anything, especially after what she'd been through that day.

"Sure Pip," Ian said, supporting her into a standing position and guiding her over to the bedroom.

A cold feeling of dread had settled in his stomach but he tried to ignore it. They were fine. They were safe. Nothing that happened could affect them now.

He and Erin were going to live their full lives and no one would be able to deny them that.

*Flashback*

"Ian that wood chippers making an odd noise, check it out and then you can check out for the day," the supervisor demanded, fixing Ian with an expression of discontent.

"And what's new? That things been on the brink for ages," Ian argued, placing his broom to rest against the wall beside him and giving his supervisor an equally cold look.

"Now don't think that you can talk to me like that young man. Just because your father takes that attitude doesn't mean I will. If you argue against me one more time you'll be outta that door faster that you can blink. It's concerning the customers and anything that concerns the customers concerns you too. Now get to work. Erin I expect those boxes to be moved in the next five minutes or you're out of here!" the supervisor yelled suddenly turning to face Ian's girlfriend.

Pulling a mocking face behind his supervisors back and putting up his middle finger at him Ian began to wonder over to his girlfriend.

"Ignore him babe. You're doing a great job. He wouldn't be able to keep this place going if you hadn't joined last minute," Ian said, patting Erin on the shoulder.

Erin smiled, "Yeah I know. I just wish he wouldn't be such a dick about it."

"That's just him. You'll get used to it," Ian reassured her.

"Excuse me, could you help me please?" a man asked, stood behind Ian.

"Sure, what do you need?" Ian asked, picking up his mop again, resting his hands on the top of it and placing his chin on top of his hands. Erin had to stop herself from chuckling. Ian was clearly attempting to look intrigued with what the man was going to say but really he just looked bored. This was the fourth time that day that a customer had come up to them asking them long, awkwardly worded questions. Erin blamed it on the hot weather. It was always the hot days that brought out the nutters.

The man seemed a little bit put of f but continued anyway. "I'm Officer Burke and I'm on the trail of a particular vehicle. I was wondering if I could ask for directions."

"Yeah sure, where are you heading?" Ian seemed to have perked up a little. At least this was a question that he could actually answer himself without having to call up to his already moderately-psychotic supervisor for support. All of Ian's attention was now on Officer Burke and he neglected to notice the rapid churning noise that the wood chipper by the wall was making. However, two customers had noticed and they were avoiding the seemingly dangerous contraption like it was the plague. A young woman moved out of the way so fast that her hand cream fell from her handbag without her noticing and spilled open beneath her feet as she sidestepped.

The man opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a flurry of motion. Suddenly the window in the front of the hardware store fell inwards as the glass shattered. Long shards of glass fell to the ground as a truck rushed in through the window exactly where Erin would have been standing had she not been distracted by Officer Burke and had gone to move the boxes. Some of the boxes were flung violently away and others were crushed beneath the trucks huge wheels. The noise of the engine of the truck and the skidding of the wheels filled the air, practically deafening everyone inside.

A woman who was stood close to the wreckage screamed and ran to avoid the wreckage of the shattered window. Officer Burke spun round to see what had happened just as Ian grabbed onto Erin's wrist and dragged her to the ground away from the path of the speeding truck.

"Kimberly!" Officer Burke yelled, seemingly recognising the other woman. He ran towards her and pulled her up and away from the path of the truck and the broken glass.

They moved towards where the wood chipper was and away from the carnage, their chests moving up and down harshly in time with their ferocious breathing. They looked terrified.

"Not again… Not again…" Kimberly was mumbling, her eyes looking haunted. Officer Burke just looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Kimberly moved backwards and suddenly she slipped on the hand cream. Stumbling backwards she fell and out of instinct put her hands out to stop her falling into the wood chipper. She tried to force herself away from danger but in doing so she got her coat sleeve caught in the machine. Officer Burke seemed to notice the danger a second too late and he reached in to try and pull Kimberly back towards him. Kimberly's arm was the first part of her to be pulled into the machine and her frantic screams died on her lips as intense pain hit her. Officer Burke tried to pull her back, but in doing so he also lost his balance.

Ian stared him horror. The wood chipper should have shut down by now or something… If he'd have gone to check the wood chipper like his supervisor had told him to that would have been him. Erin whimpered at his side, biting her coat sleeve hard to stop herself from screaming.

After only a few seconds the majority of Kimberly's body had disappeared and large red chunks of skin, flesh and blood were being churned up by the wood chipper and coating the walls like disturbed art, no longer recognisable as the remains of a human body. It didn't take a genius to realise that she was a goner. Officer Burke however was still screaming, and only when half of his body had disappeared did his screams finally die down to choked out silence. Finally they were both dead. Mercifully even.

Splashes of blood coated the wall and even though Ian and Erin were knelt a reasonable distance away from the gore a sudden splash hit Erin across the face, blood sticking in her hair and to her eyelashes.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Erin cried out above the noise of the wood chipper grinding what was surely human bone. "This isn't happening- This isn't-"

"Don't look," Ian shouted, finally noticing that Erin was still staring. He wished he'd told her to look away earlier. "Don't fucking watch that!" Placing his hand over her eyes and ignoring the stickiness of the blood that now coated his palm, Ian turned his girlfriend so that she was looking at his shirt instead. Erin placed her hands over her ears to ignore the sound of the horrific and sadistic grinding noises that the machine was still making.

Ian felt vomit rise in the back of his throat but he swallowed it down. Closing his eyes he hummed quietly to himself and tried to rid himself of the images he was sure would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.

That could have been him. If Officer Burke hadn't spoken to him it would have been him…

_If it wasn't for Officer Burke he and Erin wouldn't have survived._

***End Flashback***

Erin awoke panting as the force of the memory hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes welled up with tears of pain as she realised she was leaning on her bad arm. She turned away under the covers so that she was facing the wall instead. Ian was breathing softly at her side and she envied how easily he could sleep and how relaxed he seemed.

_Gazing into the mirror that was hung on the wall Erin looked at her reflection intently. Her red hair was lying on the pillow away from her face exposing her pale skin. The darkness surrounding her seemed to move like it was made of dancing shadows. Everything around her seemed a lot darker now as if the presence around her was much more human and its sinister grip was tightening. Eventually the darkness around her seemed to grow tighter and tighter until she couldn't even see her reflection any more. Clouds of dust and smoke surrounded her line of sight as the glass of the mirror shimmered once and seemed to collapse inwards. _

_Glass shattered in all directions and a horse appeared from the shadows, its eyes completely black as if it was possessed and it's body was made of smoke and ash. Erin recoiled backwards as the horse rushed at her but as it drew inches away it jumped over her. Thinking the danger was over Erin breathed deeply until she noticed that something the horse was dragging was seemingly coming at her. She saw a white pole and a cloth of some kind being dragged towards her at a high speed, heading straight towards her head as if it was going to decapitate her. Erin screamed and closed her eyes sharply. She prepared herself for a strike but none came. _

Opening her eyes again Erin was surprised to see that she was looking at the mirror but it was completely intact… What was that? Was that some sort of premonition? "Erin…" Ian mumbled in his sleep, turning over and fading back into his trouble free sleep.

Erin's phone rang suddenly, causing her to jump. Picking it up from the bedside table Erin stared for a couple of seconds as the words unknown number flashed across the screen. Clicking the answer button Erin sat in silence waiting for a response from the other end of the line.

"Erin!" a voice called down the end of the phone.

"Wendy?" Erin asked confused as to why the other girl was calling her, especially at ten o'clock at night.

"Erin. I'm at the Tri-Centennial with Kevin. It was Julie who was on the coaster behind you and Ian. She's next. Do you remember who was sitting next to Julie on the coaster?" Erin thought carefully but she kept on drawing a blank.

"No sorry I don't," Erin said softly, voice still thick from sleep.

Suddenly a thought hit her. "Wendy… You said that the picture of me and Ian was a clue right?

Erin heard the familiar sound of Wendy mumbling to someone else (probably Kevin) on the other end of the phone. "Yeah… Yeah that's right."

"On my picture… Was there a horse or something near me?" Erin asked.

"A horse?" Wendy asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah, I think I saw something. That's all. Like a premonition of some kind…" Erin mumbled, feeling as though she sounded insane.

"No, there's no horse near you. But…" Erin heard frantic scuffling of paper. "Oh god, there's one right near Julie in her picture."

"There was something else… There was a white pole or something. It looked like a flagpole," Erin finished.

Wendy paused. "There's one of those too… There's a horse and a flagpole on the picture of Julie. Oh wait, I can see the flagpole. It's on the other end of the field. Kevin, go find Julie. I'll go get that flagpole and stop it from killing anybody. Go! Thank you for telling me Erin. If you see anything else then call me on this number," Wendy yelled, hanging up the phone on Erin. Erin sighed and placed her phone back down on the bedside table.

"Who was that?" Ian yawned from beside her, finally waking up.

"It was Wendy…" Erin whispered.

"Tell her to piss off calling us," Ian simply said, rolling over and going back to sleep. Erin stared at the mirror a little more, fear flooding her.

What the hell was going on?

**Next chapter we're going to the Tri-Centennial with Wendy, Kevin, Julie and Perry to see what happens. Will Wendy be able to save Julie and Perry in time? Especially now that she knows what is going to kill them. If you like it please review! **


	3. A Horse and a Flagpole

**Warnings: Gore (mild) **

**Author's Note: This chapter actually took me a long time to write. This (pretty much) follows the events of the film, give or take a few changes e.g. the phone call to Erin. The next chapter should be much more action filled as it's when the events of the film change completely. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter :) I'm actually having a lot of fun writing this. Not much Erin and Ian in this chapter… They'll be featured a lot more in the next chapter though! **

Wendy gripped the steering wheel tightly in her hands, her nails digging into it as she drove.

_It was Julie… It had to be. No one else could have been wearing that bracelet…_

Her eyes welled up with tears as she felt an intense feeling of dread flood her. She might as well have been heading towards death. Because if Wendy couldn't save her own sister there was no way that she'd be able to save herself. The sky around her was getting darker and the shapes of the trees surrounding the road were appearing far more twisted and gnarled in the dimming glow of the fading sun. Wendy could see her own breathing as she panted in the cold air. It felt as though she couldn't get enough oxygen in her lungs. It was like there was a hand in her chest crushing her lungs and squeezing at her heart.

There was a silence inside the car that, instead of being relaxing, was filled with anticipation and a sense of danger. Wendy couldn't help but be reminded of the moments of silence before the others had died. When she held the picture of Ashley and Ashlyn in her hands seconds before they burned to death the same silence had stretched before her. The gap of time before the fan rotated, spreading Frankie's brain's spreading across the ground like spaghetti. The short pause between the ropes holding the weights being cut and the weights coming down on Lewis' head… The uncomfortable silence before Ian and Erin almost died. They all felt the same. If Wendy didn't do something soon she felt certain that her sister would die.

_Maybe we've already cheated death one too many times._

Wendy paled as she remembered the last time she and Julie had been close to death.

***Flashback***

"Do you think she's gonna die?" Julie asked, tears streaming down her face as she walked slowly away from the hospital.

"Probably…" Wendy muttered under her breath, trying not to feel guilty as Julie suddenly stopped walking and buried her face in her hands again. Wendy paused and turned around to put her arm around Julie's shaking shoulders.

"C'mon we both know that she's old but she's strong too… She'll die eventually and we both know that she will but she'll probably live another couple of years before that day. We just have to leave her in the hospital for a bit," Wendy reasoned, patting Julie's shoulder, unsure of how to comfort her younger sister. The two had been growing apart for a few years and Wendy wasn't sure how to talk to Julie any more. She felt uncomfortable standing outside of the hospital, standing next to a girl she felt she barely recognised.

"She's only fifty eight," Julie sighed.

"Yeah… And she's had two strokes and a heart attack. Trust me, people have died younger. Fifty eight is old enough to die in death's eyes," Wendy sighed, imagining the picture frame beside their grandmother's bed at her house. She could see the black and white picture of their grandfather with his arm around their grandmother's shoulders on the day of their wedding. They were both smiling in the glow of the camera light. Wendy's grandmother was still young and pretty, long hair flowing over her shoulders in controlled curls, and her flawless pale skin was almost translucent in youth. Their grandfather was standing beside her, the same age. He was clearly happy but even there Wendy could see that he looked years older than their grandmother did. The lines on his face were deep and the worry of years of hardships were hidden deep in his eyes, buried deep beneath the blurred, black and white colours of the photograph.

He was twenty two on the photograph. He died three years later when a fellow soldier blew his head off after mistaking him for the enemy.

Wendy, lost in thoughts, had begun to drag her sister away from the hospital and across the road opposite. The air rushing by her head seemed to increase in viciousness and all other noise faded into a dull buzzing in her ears. Suddenly a pressure built on her wrist and she jolted to a stop. Turning around to irritably tell her sister to carry on walking, Wendy was surprised when she met Julie's terrified brown eyes. Spinning around Wendy was met with a flurry of motion. She saw the huge shadow of a speeding truck racing towards her. All thoughts ceased and a fuzzy smoke had settled behind her vision. All that she could focus on at that moment was the huge shape that was racing towards her.

Suddenly a weight hit Wendy, causing her to fall to the cold concrete. Wendy looked up through her hair and expected to see that Julie had pushed her to safety, but was surprised to see her sister on the ground beside her, looking just as confused as she was. Looking up Wendy could see a blond woman standing above her panting, with sweat matted in her blond hair. She looked like she was in her late thirties and had been clearly crying for quite some time. For a moment Wendy wondered why she was there, and then it finally dawned on her that the woman had obviously pushed her out of the way of the truck. An intense feeling of gratitude flooded her.

Before she could thank the woman however, the woman seemed to crumble in front of her.

"Don't you have eyes? Can't you see? That car could have hit you two and then you'd be just more kids that died well before their time. I was never worried that my son would die! Never! But now he's dead. He's dead because he didn't watch where he was going. My Tim was only fifteen… He was only fifteen," the woman cried, her entire body shaking.

Wendy didn't know what to do. She just sat there shaking. Wendy didn't like it when adults cried in front of her. It always made her feel small. The adrenaline from the fear of her near death experience had sent her head free falling. She was only distantly aware that Julie was at her side shaking along with her, equally as scared.

There was no way that the two girls could have known.

There was no way they could have known that they had just been saved by someone who shouldn't have been alive.

_There was no way they could have known that they were just saved by Nora Carpenter. _

Both Julie and Wendy had been added to death's list at that moment, but they never even knew it.

***End Flashback***

The dials on the radio turning suddenly snapped Wendy out of her reverie. The numbers were turning in a way that appeared both out of control and frantic. The radio began to play a song that Wendy had gotten to know all too well.

"_There is someone walking behind you…"_

Wendy glanced down at her radio, with her eyes wide and frightened. The last time she heard that song was when Frankie died.

Glancing upwards at her rear view mirror Wendy almost expected to see someone there, standing behind her but was surprised to see that the road was completely empty. Something felt missing though. It felt as though something should have been there but wasn't… Wendy couldn't put her finger on it but it still freaked her out.

"_Turn around, look at me."_

Wendy focused on the rear view mirror, certain that someone was following her. She could still feel the sensation that she had felt ever since she knelt at Jason's grave during Ashlyn and Ashley's funeral. There was a presence behind her, watching her every move and controlling every event.

"_There is someone, watching your footsteps."_

Wendy was so distracted by watching the road behind her that, when a dark black shadow ran out in front of her car, Wendy had to swerve sharply to avoid it. Glancing up Wendy met with the dark eyes of a wolf and she immediately froze. The wolf stared at her directly for a second and Wendy could see the darkness reflected there. The wolf stared at her unblinking for a moment before it turned sharply and ran away from the car.

"_Turn around, look at me." _

Wendy's heart raced as she finally got her car back under control. Usually the song has some degree of relevance. What could it mean this time? There was absolutely nothing behind her. All of a sudden a thought struck Wendy. She turned round, attempting to keep one eye on the road and glanced at the backseat. Lying in the backseat of her car were the photographs that she had practically thrown there in her rush to get to the Tri-centennial. A wind blew through the car despite the fact that all the windows were closed and there was no way that wind could get in. Wendy could see the photo of her and Jason blown aside by the breeze to reveal the picture of Julie, Perry and Amber.

"_There is someone who really loves you…"_

Wendy almost reached over to grab the photo but stopped herself as her car swerved slightly and she had to right it. Jason. Ultimately she had thought that the person who was watching her would be Jason. She wished it was Jason. Maybe if he hadn't died he'd have been able to think of a way to get them all out of this mess. Or maybe Wendy would have been better to just let the accident happen… At least then there wouldn't be fear building up in her chest. If she'd have left it then everything would already be over.

No. Wendy refused to let herself think like that.

The best and only way to save Julie was to get to the Tri-centennial as fast as she possibly could.

***Line Break***

The first thing that Wendy was aware of as she reached the Tri-centennial was that everything was clearly not right. The smell of fireworks hung in the air even though none of them had been lit. Her mind flashed back to the picture of Kevin that she had in her pocket and she reeled for a second. There were three people who were potentially in danger. First was Julie, and even if she managed to save Julie, Wendy would then have to find out the person who was sitting next to Julie and save her. After that Kevin would be in danger and then shortly following that Wendy would be the next one on death's list.

The sky had darkened significantly and the only reason why Wendy could still see was because of the extravagant glow of the party lights. Wendy couldn't help but be reminded of the night at the rollercoaster. Each and every shape of the decoration stood out in sharp detail in a way that was both horrific and slightly comical. Like some twisted children's show.

The people around Wendy were rushing past her and chattering, clearly having a blast. They didn't seem to have a care in the world. Wendy envied them… She weaved her way through the people, trying to look for her sister. Suddenly she had an idea. Whoever she was on the rollercoaster with was probably with Julie now. If Wendy could save them both together then she could sort all of it out. Kevin rushed in Wendy's direction from another end of the field. He looked pale and sweaty as if he'd been running away from a wild animal.

"Wendy!" he called, attempting to force his way through the crowd.

Wendy pulled out her mobile with shaking hands and dialled a number that she hadn't dialled in over a year since she and Erin had been partnered together for a project. Truthfully, until that moment she had forgotten that she even owned it.

The phone dialled twice until someone answered. Shocked that the other girl had actually picked up Wendy paused for a couple of seconds before she remembered what she had to ask.

"Erin!"

"Wendy?" Erin answered, sounding mildly confused and her voice thick from sleep.

"Erin. I'm at the Tri-centennial with Kevin. It was Julie who was on the coaster behind you and Ian. She's next. Do you remember who was sitting next to Julie on the coaster?" Wendy asked, urgency showing clear in her tone.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Wendy prayed that Erin would hurry up and answer, her nerves were on edge and every single one of the hairs on her arms felt as if they were standing on end.

"No sorry I don't…" Erin said. Wendy's heart sank into the pit of her stomach. At that moment Kevin finally caught up with her.

"Wendy… You said the picture of me and Ian was a clue right?" Wendy barely registered the question.

"Who are you calling?" Kevin asked her.

"Erin…" Wendy mumbled. "Have you found Julie yet?"

Kevin shook his head, his expression solemn. Wendy cursed under her breath. Suddenly remembering that Erin was still on the phone and that she had asked her a question Wendy focused back on the conversation.

"Yeah… Yeah that's right."

"On my picture… Was there a horse or something with me?" Erin asked.

"A horse?" Wendy questioned, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Yeah, I think I saw something. That's all. Like a premonition of some kind..." Erin mumbled on the other end of the line.

Wendy's eyes widened. Erin could have premonitions too? If there was someone else who was able to help her then this might be exactly what she needed to help save everyone. Wendy was willing to leave Ian and Erin out of the situation before, but now that she knew that Erin was still involved she knew there was no way that she could avoid using the extra help that the other girl could provide. Some support might be exactly what Wendy would need to put an end to the mayhem around her.

Wendy looked down at the pile of photographs and shuffled them around so that Erin and Ian's photograph was just on top of Julie's photo. Wendy scanned the photo for anything that resembled a horse but came up drawing a blank. She peered into the darkness behind Erin and Ian but found that none of the shadowy shapes were anything like a horse. Distantly she wondered if Erin simply thought she'd seen something she hadn't.

"No, there's no horse near you. But…" Wendy began, but cut herself off as she saw something on Julie's picture, just poking out from beneath. Quickly swapping the pictures round Wendy felt a cold feeling sweep through her veins as she noticed the white horse on the carousel wheel that was directly behind Julie. Could it be a coincidence? Wendy wasn't willing to risk it.

"Oh god, there's one right near Julie in her picture," Wendy exclaimed. Kevin cast a worried eye over the photo, wondering what all the commotion was about.

There was a slight pause before Erin replied. "There was something else… There was a white pole or something. It looked like a flagpole," Erin finished.

Wendy looked at the photo again. At the side of the photo, barely noticeable was the American flag. Wendy recognised it as one of the flagpoles that had been hung up at the fair.

_They were definitely not both coincidences._

"There's one of them too… There's a horse and a flagpole on the picture of Julie."

Wendy looked down the field and noticed two huge flagpoles on the opposite end of the field. The bright colours of the flags seemed to glow in the reflection of the fireworks that had recently been set off. Explosions littered the sky as small diamond shapes of flames danced across the night sky like stars. Each loud whistle or bang sent Wendy into a haze, panic swirling across her vision. Something bad was going to happen, something seriously bad.

"Oh wait, I see two flagpoles. They're on the other end of the field. Kevin, go find Julie. I'll go get the flagpoles and stop them from killing anybody. Go! Thank you for telling me Erin. If you see anything else then call me on this number," Wendy said in a rush, hanging up her phone and placing it back in her pocket.

By the time she had turned around, Kevin had already taken off towards the swarming groups of people, gazing intently at the fireworks. Truthfully in that moment Wendy saw nothing beautiful in them.

"_Like a firework went off in my face."_

Wendy flinched at the mental image. She'd have to keep a close eye on Kevin, especially after she'd saved Julie and whoever was sat next to her on the rollercoaster. She couldn't fail. She couldn't let anyone else die. Wendy took off in a sprint, her brown hair flying in front of her face as she panted, already exhausted by the adrenaline rush coursing through her body. Her sights were set on the flagpoles but every so often someone would walk into her accidently. She found herself tripping over people's shoes more often than she would like. A girl stopped in front of her, eyeing her like she was a mad woman on the loose. Wendy, not having time to stop, dodged her completely and continued running.

Wendy, however, was not aware of the events transpiring behind her in the centre of the swirling crowds. Two teenage boys were standing behind a horse, holding firecrackers in their hands. They grinned wolfishly in the grasp of thoughtless youth, never quite realising that they were already a part of a much greater plan. That death intended to use their youth and carelessness to set off a chain of events that would ultimately kill Julie Christensen.

Wendy ran in the direction of the flagpoles, but kept on moving her head in different directions, hoping to catch a glimpse of her sister and to check that the younger girl was safe.

Julie was pushing through the crowd of people, trying to catch a closer look at the fireworks.

The teenage boys had lit the firecrackers and were quickly running away from them before they sparked. The resounding explosion was loud and it caused the horse to buck backwards slightly. It let out a loud noise that sounded like a frightened cry and it began to run, dragging the rope that had been keeping it still along with it.

"Julie!" Kevin yelled, catching up to the other girl. His face was flushed and his breathing was shallow. He looked terrified but relieved that he'd found the other girl in one piece. Julie turned to face him and then turned away, walking in the opposite direction, her hands shoved into her pockets.

"No wait! You're in danger, okay. I'm trying to explain something top you," Kevin argued, drawing closer.

Julie spun around, her anger sparking.

"Let me explain this to you!" Julie shouted, putting up both her middle fingers at Kevin. Kevin had only a second to notice that Julie's pose now looked exactly like the pose in the picture before he was distracted by Wendy's frightened voice yelling from across the field.

"Julie, look out!"

Wendy had noticed the startled horse that running towards her sister and stopped dead in her tracks. The horse could easily kill her sister, regardless as to if the flagpoles were involved or not. Wendy had to do something. Praying that Kevin and Julie had heard her scream Wendy ran towards her friend and her sister.

Kevin turned around in time to see the horse rushing towards Julie and quickly shoved her out of the way to the grass. The horse rushed past her, paying no concern to how close it had gotten to hitting her. All Julie could see for a moment was a huge black shadow that momentarily consumed her.

The horse rammed into Kevin's arm and he was shoved out of the way causing him to scramble in the dirt. He felt a searing pain in his right arm where the horse had hit him and as he fell to the ground it felt as if someone had shoved a burning hot poker into his socket. He let out a choked off cry of pain and lay still for a moment. He had fallen on his back and from where he was lying he could see the stars in the sky. A sharp ringing sounded in his ears as he lay, dizzy and disoriented from his fall, in the grass amongst the bugs and worms.

Julie sat up as the horse passed on and she could finally see beyond its shadow. Julie heard the scraping of something being dragged across the ground and turned just in time to see the stake that had been holding the horse in the ground rushing straight towards her head. The rope wrapped tightly around her neck, and before Julie knew it she was too being dragged across the ground behind the horse. Colours and shapes rushed past her and she felt agonising pain in her back as she was pulled over grass that now felt as sharp as razor blades. The rope around her neck only seemed to get tighter and Julie panicked as her air supply was being gradually cut off. Julie's wild scream startled Wendy and alerted Kevin to the danger immediately.

"Julie!" Wendy cried, racing towards her sister. Kevin stood up and, ignoring the ringing in his ears, grabbed a prop sword from one of the actors. Policemen at the scene took off, hot on the heels of the racing horse, attempting to catch up with Julie and save the young girl. The crowds had stopped moving and instead turned to watch, amazed but yet horrified by the scene unfolding around them.

Kevin raced towards Julie, and Wendy was only a few paces behind them. As if it feared that the teenagers would catch up to it, the horse jumped over a harrow that was directly in its path. As Julie was dragged towards the sharp spikes Wendy stopped and opened her mouth wide in despair. The scream however died on her lips as Kevin flung himself forward and managed to slice through the rope with the sword. Julie came to a sudden stop but the rope still remained tight around her throat. Wendy raced towards her younger sister.

Julie let out a small and feeble cough as Wendy quickly loosened to rope around her neck. Tears of both pain and terror poured from Julie's eyes and her face was bright red Crawling so that she was on her hands and knees Julie tried to crawl away from her older sister, body aching with every move she made.

"Let me go…" Julie gasped, her body shaking.

"No Julie, you have to tell me. You have to listen. Tell me who was sitting next to you on the rollercoaster!" But before Julie could even attempt to answer Perry and Amber raced over to her looking worried.

"Oh my gosh! Julie are you alright?" Amber asked, falling to her knees beside her friend.

A firework went off overhead, shooting out huge red flames. Barely anyone in the audience even noticed the spectacle due to the almost death that they had just witnessed. However, the horse freaked out yet again, its body rearing backwards and it pulled itself away from the policemen that were holding it still. The men noticed the danger and tried to pull the horse back, halting it for a moment.

"Listen to me. You have to tell me who was sitting next to you on the rollercoaster. Who? She's next!" Wendy screamed, trying to get through to her sister but beginning to feel frantic.

Across the field another firework went off. This time when the horse ran the policemen were not fast enough to stop it. With almost impossible strength the horse set off yet again, racing towards where Julie, Wendy and Kevin were. As it ran, the flagpole that it had been tied to was pulled from the ground and dragged across the ground behind the horse, similar to Julie moments before.

Wendy looked upwards as a speeding blurred shape in the sky caught her attention. Perry, who was kneeling in front of this shape stood up at the wrong time. Her eyes locked with Wendy's for a second before the end of the flagpole tore directly through her chest, impaling her and ending her life. Perry's head was flung backwards from the impact and her blood ran red and thick across the end of the flagpole. Amber, Wendy and Julie were showered in the other girl's blood and their collective scream rang out across the field.

Perry's head fell forward to her chest and her body dropped to its knees. She had died instantly. The pole was now sticking in the ground and as it steadied, Perry's body slid downwards, drenching the rest of the pole in deep crimson.

_Erin was right. The flagpole and the horse were the causes of the girl's death._

As this thought rushed through Wendy's mind, the horse continued to panic and Kevin was trying to steady it, alongside the policemen. He had noticed that something had happened across the field but he wasn't quite aware what had happened. He prayed that no one was dead. If someone had died that mean that he was definitely next.

"Kevin…" Wendy whispered, taking off yet again, blood sticking in her hair and running down her face.

Kevin attempted to dodge around the horse but was caught off guard when the animal kicked out with its back legs, hitting him squarely in the chest. His body was flung backwards with immense force onto the food table. The table cracked under the pressure of Kevin's body hitting it. A kebab was thrown from the table and speared the pipe of the propane gas container. The gasp leaked and then caught fire. Kevin, recovering after his fall, noticed the flames and scrambled backwards. The explosion caused everyone around to scream in fear, but at the last minute Wendy was able to catch onto Kevin's arm and drag him away from the flames. Kevin's face was burned, scorched and covered in smoke, but he was safe.

Julie, who had managed to calm herself, had run towards them and crouched down next to Kevin who was coughing and choking on the smoke that had filled his lungs. It felt as though he was trying to breathe through a layer of tar that was covering his lungs.

"Wendy! What's happening?" Julie cried, jumping every time a firework went off around her.

"Wendy, you're next!" Kevin cried, his voice sounding rough and scratched. "What caused your death? What was the clue?"

"I- I don't know!" Wendy cried.

The explosions around the three teenagers continued as Wendy felt the darkness around her intensify matched only by the fierce nature of the flames.

_No one escapes death. No one. _

**Well wow that was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed writing this bit but I'm worried it was a bit boring. After all, you all knew what was going to happen… Next chapter is when it gets interesting though. I realise it was pretty bad of me to kill off Perry regardless of the change, but to be honest even though Wendy knew what would ** **cause a death she cared more about attempting to save her sister and she just wasn't quick enough *sigh*. So yeah, please review! x**


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